Headlines On Deadline ...

Headlines On Deadline ...

To outsource, or not to outsource? That is the question for Cigna, which recently hired the McKinsey consulting company to help determine whether the health plan should keep its information technology functions in-house. It's all part of Cigna's efforts to cut costs.... Aetna must pay $100 million as a result of a lawsuit filed by 20 medical societies representing more than 700,000 physicians. In addition, Aetna must make business practice improvements valued at an estimated $300 million.... Health care spending has slowed for the first time in five years, according to the Center for Studying Health System Change. Spending on those with private insurance rose 9.6 percent in 2002. In 2001, it rose 10 percent.... Providing universal coverage under the current health system would increase health spending's share of the gross domestic product by less than one percentage point — or about 3 to 6 percent of total health care spending, according to a new study by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

Useful Links

Managed Care's Prospects in the Health Reform Era

Princeton’s Uwe Reinhardt, PhD, renowned health care economist, sits down with Managing Editor Frank Diamond to discuss the economic effects of the Affordable Care Act, wellness programs, and the state of health care in the United States in general.